My congratulations to Sheriff Ross Litman and the St. Louis County Sheriff’s Office on their decision to put all arrest warrants online for public access.
I am a retired judge who happened to be helping out in arraignment court (where defendants make their first appearances) in Duluth the day after the News Tribune ran a front-page story about the decision (“St. Louis County warrants go online, Oct. 18). The story described the new system allowing public access to warrant information. That day two citizens read the newspaper article, learned they had outstanding warrants of which they were not aware, and voluntarily came in to court to set things right. Because of the integrity they showed in turning themselves in, they were allowed to remain free pending the resolutions of their cases.
This new program allowing direct public access to warrant information is going to save the sheriff’s office and the court system significant time and energy, and it is going to save the citizens money.
You folks in St. Louis County are fortunate to have a sheriff’s department that is innovative and willing to think outside the box.
Peter Albrecht
Minneapolis
The writer is a retired senior judge for Hennepin County.
